The bar exam is necessary for anyone who wants to practice law
and can cost graduates $800 just to take the test,
Bloomberg reported. But last year, 40 states — including
Washington, DC — dropped in their passing rates.

According to Bloomberg, Erica Moeser, president of the NCBE,
stated in a letter that one of the reasons for the drop was
simple: law students and their graduates are simply not as
smart as they used to be.

Moeser stated that over the years, more students have
been admitted into law programs with lower LSAT scores.
Because there is a correlation between LSAT and MBE (multi-state
bar exam) scores, she writes, law schools with lower LSAT scores
can expect fewer students to pass their bar exams.

Moeser also wrote a letter to law school deans, stating that the
NCBE reviewed the examination for flukes and that 2014
test-takers were simply “less able” when compared to those who
took the test in 2013. Critics of Moeser's response state that
the problem isn't based solely on the student's competency but
could also be related to the exam itself.

Nicholas Allard, Dean of Brooklyn Law School,
wrote Moeser back and rebutted her position, describing
her letter as both defensive and offensive.

“There is no explanation for how you reached your conclusion, nor
transparency to your process, so how can we have confidence in
this self-serving unaudited assertion,” Allard wrote. “Given how
this exam affects the lives and careers of tens of thousands of
graduates, you can do better and provide both the deans and
graduates a more thorough review.”

According to the NCBE, here’s a list of the five states that
dropped the most in total passing rates between 2013 to 2014: